Udpate from David Itskowitch of Golden Boy Promotions on Vivian Harris: Vivian is fine. From what I understand he was given a precautionary CAT scan at his request which came back clear and he was released from the hospital around midnight. He will see a neurologist this week as a further precaution
15.08.09 – by James Slater – There were dramatic scenes last night in Tucson, as former WBA light-welterweight champion “Vicious” Vivian Harris was carried from the ring at the conclusion of his fight with Mexico’s Noe Bolanos. Badly hurt by an accidental head butt that came in the 2nd-round, Harris collapsed and was so hurt he had to be lifted from the ring by a stretcher..
According to Ring on line, the 30-year-old who was born in Guyana but now lives in Brooklyn, New York, was taken to a nearby hospital so as to undergo observation as a precautionary measure. Harris collapsed about 90 seconds into the 2nd-round of the fight that was shown live on ESPN, and though he regained his feet after taking a knee as the butt landed, Harris then collapsed as he tried to walk towards his corner.
The word is that Harris is okay, but was badly shaken up by the head clash that resulted in last night’s fight being declared a no-contest. However, Ring on line reports that Harris was complaining about head pains whilst in hospital. We all wish him well. The former champion who signed with new promoter Golden Boy recently, and had his first fight with them last night, is now 29-3-1(19).
Bolanos, 20-4-1(11), lost the opening round of the cards of all three ringside judges, yet he appeared to hurt Harris at the end of the 1st round with a number of hard body shots. The Mexican said he himself was not at all hurt by the accidental head butt. The fighter’s corner man, Juan Mendoza, went as far as to suggest Harris all but quit last night.
“He just didn’t want any more of those body shots,” Mendoza said. “He knocked himself out. My boy is just too strong for that dude. That’s the bottom line.”
Some will see Mendoza’s claims as nonsense, obviously. How on earth did Harris, who has ambitions of getting back into the world title picture at 140-pounds, knock himself out!? As all those who saw the fight know, the butt, though purely accidentally, was a bad one.
Perhaps, after he’s recovered and watched the tape so as to see for himself what happened (apparently, Harris was heard to ask “What happened?” last night) Harris will look for a rematch with Bolanos. In any case, last night’s result was in no way what “Vicious” Vivian was hoping for in his debut for Golden Boy.